The National unveiled a new piano-lined track “You Were a Kindness” on Minnesota Public Radio’s “The Current.” Despite some complimentary comments in the lyrics, it’s not so kind. Unless you have a different read on making a slow disaster out of someone. Take a listen.
Collaboration with Cee-Lo and B.o.B is Mars’ first single off debut EP.
By Jayson Rodriguez
Bruno Mars
Photo: MTV News
On Wednesday, Bruno Mars premiered his latest video, “The Other Side,” showing the Hawaiian-born artist rehearsing, participating in a photo shoot and aimlessly wandering around Los Angeles. According to Mars, the moody visuals match the spirit of the song.
“The truth of the matter is, I’m complicated/ You’re as straight as they come,” he sings on the fast-paced number. “You go about your day, baby/ While I hide from the sun/ It’s better if you don’t understand/ ‘Cause you won’t know what it’s like till you try.”
” ‘The Other Side,’ which is the darker side of Bruno Mars, it’s me, Cee-Lo and B.o.B, we all got on the track and it’s one of my favorite records on the CD,” he told MTV News. “Just because it’s so unique, and I think the story behind the song, when you listen to the lyrics, it says, ‘It’s better if you don’t understand.’ And to me, it was so powerful that we actually named the EP that.”
It’s Better If You Don’t Understand, Mars’ debut, features just four songs.
After his success behind the scenes as a producer, Mars broke out this year as a featured artist on B.o.B’s #1 hit “Nothin’ on You” and on Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire.”
Now, Mars is concentrating on his solo work. In May, he told MTV News that being in the spotlight wasn’t necessarily a part of his plans, but when he was given the chance, he was more than prepared.
“The journey wasn’t short at all — it was trial and error and trial and error,” Mars said. “It was just back and forth, man. But once ‘Nothin’ on You’ blew up, I had these songs in my back pocket, and the label thought it’d be a good time to give people a little taste of what they’re gonna get with the album. The EP came together real nice; you’re gonna get a nice effect of what’s in store.”
Are you excited to hear more of Bruno Mars’ music? Let us know in the comments below!
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In his Progress Report, of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes promised a strong ’70s funk/R&B influence and mentioned a possibly getting Jon Brion to produce False Priest. The next of Montreal album now has a release date (September 14) and a first taste for us to sample. “Coquet Coquette” doesn’t sound like it emerged from his nights channeling the spirits of Curtis Mayfield or Stevie Wonder. But the record was produced by Brion, and Barnes did suggest that the album could still change a lot depending on what Brion suggested, so who knows. There are a lot of nice things here, from the percussion flourishes (it sounds to my ears like someone is breathing really hard), to the bass line on the second verse, to Barnes rhyming “mythical” and “cynical.” Mythical and cynical could describe lots of his lyrics.
Brooklyn sound engineer/producer Eric Feigenbaum has worked with MGMT and Passion Pit, but Ego Puppets is the first time he’s stepped out on his own. It took him a while to have the confidence to go solo (all of his photos, which show him in profile or otherwise obscured, hint that he’s still not exactly comfortable), so songs like first single “Avatar Couture,” have been cooking up for a while. You can hear it in the meticulous arrangement of synths, twitchy drums, guitar, and reversed samples under his falsetto. A lot of bold moves for a song about being nervous.
After inspiring the Vikings with “Purple & Gold” via a Minnesota Public Radio premiere, the Purple One also debuted the non-Favre track “Cause And Effect” via his hometown airwaves. Ditto the seasonally appropriate “Hot Summer.” The opening guitar sorta sounds like “Jessie’s Girl” but then you get a psych-beach organ, a Banana Splits-style sing-a-long, and a “futuristical sound.” The results? At least the lyrics are positive.
Watain’s Sworn To The Dark was my favorite album of 2007. The Swedish trio’s followup Lawless Darkness is a different black metal monster that hasn’t hit me as immediately or as totally as Sworn. I’m not really complaining — We’re talking an 8.5 instead of a 10. There are more than enough of those great, always surprisingly catchy) riffs and huge dynamics. Erik Danielsson’s tortured/choking vocals are still floating maniacally in that swirling, densely bleak atmosphere. But it does feature a few shifts: You’ll discover more spaciousness (things aren’t as unrelentingly claustrophobic as in the past), more psychedelic/expressive guitar solos, and a 14-minute album-closing epic that includes guest vocals from Fields Of The Nephilim’s Carl McCoy. Pete Helmkamp, who I just finished interviewing re: his new project Kerasphorus, wrote the lyrics for “Total Funeral.” (If you recall, Angelcorpse played with Watain on the 2007 Sworn tour.) The band’s currently planning a US tour Danielsson says will be confirmed soon. Last time through, people fixated on the animal blood they brought with them. Personally, I’m more into their corpse paint application. As I wrote in ‘07:
Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes mentioned in his Progress Report that soul scientist Janelle Monáe would make a guest appearance on his band’s next album. But that won’t be Barnes and Monáe’s only work together. The band appear (along with Saul Williams and Big Boi) on Monáe’s long-anticipated debut LP The ArchAndroid. It sounds like a straight collaboration rather than a guest spot: The song reboots and shifts a few times (like many of Montreal tracks), and Barnes almost takes lead on the vocals. And it seems like the lyrics (“you’ve got your android dream of electric sheep under your pillow”) marries each singer’s psychedelic and sci-fi concerns. Listen at Some Kind Of Awesome.
The ArchAndroid is out 5/18 via Wondaland Arts Society/Bad Boy.
We have suggestions from Frank’s songbook for Crystal Bowersox, Michael Lynche and the rest of the finalists.
By Eric Ditzian
Season 9 “American Idol” top 5
Photo: FOX
One year ago, under the tutelage of Jamie Foxx, the “American Idol” kids welcomed the gentlemen of the Rat Pack into the Nokia Theatre. Season eight’s Danny Gokey wowed the judges with a bluesy take on “Come Rain or Come Shine” and Adam Lambert donned a shiny white suit for a rendition of “Feeling Good” that Kara DioGuardi called “confusing and shocking and sleazy and superb!”
This season, the invitations for Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and all but one of the Rat Packers must have gotten lost in the mail, because only Frank Sinatra will be represented on Tuesday night’s (May 4) live show. Come rain or come shine, Crystal Bowersox, Lee Dewyze and the rest of the top five will attempt to fly “Idol” voters to the moon. For in the end, it’s all or nothing at all: One contestant will head home. Here are our picks for the Sinatra songs that best fit each singer — the tunes that might let them hang on for another week.
Crystal Bowersox
Even more so than during Shania Twain Week, the key to acing it this week will be all about arrangement: How do you take these classic songs and breathe some 21st-century life into them so we’re not falling asleep in front of our TV sets? There’s no easy answer to that question. The “Idol”-ers need to find a kernel of their own sound in a song and extrapolate from there. In Bowersox’s case, she has demonstrated a natural affinity for the blues. That points us right toward “Blue Moon.” We’d like to see her start off slow and stripped-down, as she did during Janis Joplin’s “Me and Bobby McGee,” then speed up the whole thing until the entire band is involved with a ’60s rock-style jam.
Lee Dewyze
In the midst of researching these song choices, we came across a silky, acoustic cover of “Fly Me to the Moon” by singer-songwriter Joshua Radin. It’s got Lee Dewyze’s name written all over it. He’d be smart to speed up the arrangement just a touch and unleash that indie-rock-lite growl of his. This one could be the real and welcome surprise on Tuesday.
Michael Lynche
After weeks of genre misfires and vocal missteps, Big Mike finally returned to his R&B wheelhouse last week on Twain’s “It Only Hurts When I’m Breathing.” The results, while hardly breathtaking, were far better than anything he’d delivered in a while. Alas, he still ended up in the bottom three. Luckily for Lynche, not only can Sinatra Week be easily tailored to his strengths, but it’s a better fit for his vocal style than it is for most of the other contestants. He should look to “It Had to Be You,” giving the song an R&B makeover and highlighting the sensitive balladeer beneath his hulking exterior: more Maxwell and less of the lounge-singer wannabe Elliott Yamin busted out in season five.
Casey James
James presents a tricky situation this week. His version of “Don’t” last week was one of his finest this season — no “Jealous Guy,” but excellent stuff. Nonetheless, he found himself in the dreaded bottom three. So this week, do we encourage him to do more of the same, slowed-down tuneage, knowing that material is the best fit for his talents? Or do we guide him back toward the generic rock songs he was delivering for weeks and that, for one reason or another, keep getting him voted through? Nope, we’re going to go with what we think he does best: those slow-burning ballads. Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” can actually be sped up a bit, but the lyrics are a great fit for James, and the track could make for another admirable performance.
Aaron Kelly
How do you solve a problem like Aaron Kelly? You don’t — at least not at this point in the competition. You just sit back and admire the kid’s staying power. What does he need to do this week to keep hope alive? Avoid the obvious why-would-a-17-year-old-be-singing-this songs, like “Love and Marriage,” “The Way You Look Tonight” and “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Instead, stick with the ballads that have been his strength. And guess what? The approved Sinatra song list offers the perfect tune for this high schooler: “I’ve Got a Crush on You.”
Which “Idol”-er will deliver the best rendition of Ol’ Blue Eyes on Sinatra Week? Tell us in the comments!
Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
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“The Weekenders” has the awesome Craig Finn snap, “The theme of this party’s the industrial age’ / You came in dressed as a train wreck,” among other memorable lines. Finn himself looked like he was continually impressed with his lyrics during their Friday appearance on Letterman:
Mentor Alicia Keys couldn’t prevent so-so performances from Siobhan Magnus, Casey James and the rest.
By Gil Kaufman
Lee Dewyze on “American Idol” Tuesday
Photo: Fox
The theme of Tuesday night’s (April 20) “American Idol” was songs of inspiration, and guest mentor Alicia Keys did her best to offer some positive encouragement to the top seven. The inspirational songs were a setup for Wednesday night’s star-filled “Idol Gives Back” special, and in the end, leading contender Crystal Bowersox brought down the house with a performance that instantly felt like one of the show’s all-time greats.
The hour began with Casey James taking on Fleetwood Mac’s iconic “Don’t Stop.” Keys said he had to find a way to connect with it and make the crowd remember him and not the song, since the 1977 original was such a huge, well-known hit. Tossing his signature bluesy grit on the vocal, James slowed the pace down just enough to make it his own and ripped off a pair of mini electric-guitar solos for good measure. He even did a little vocal ad lib near the end — “you better be lookin’ ahead, not lookin’ back, yeah, yeah” — to give it that extra dose of James soul.
For Randy Jackson, it was good but, once again, more of the same, and Ellen DeGeneres said it was time to be great, and he just wasn’t. “I don’t think anyone is going to be talking about that tomorrow,” she said. It was too jam-band for Kara DioGuardi, who said the solos made him seem generic, and Simon Cowell was blunt when he opined that Casey showed “zero emotion” and that there was nothing particularly inspiring about the lazy song choice.
Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Boxer” was personal for Lee Dewyze, who said he remembered it from his childhood, when it inspired him to play guitar. Keys told him to recite the lyrics and remember what they mean while he sang. Dewyze played it as a dramatic acoustic ballad while backed by a string section, pumping up the emotion and turning the lyrics into an urgent plea.
Ellen felt the arrangement showed Lee’s depth and talent, and DioGuardi said it was clear from his performance that he had a connection to the song, which for her made it his “moment” on the show so far. “That was sincere, that was emotional, that was inspiration,” Cowell said, noting that he never particularly cared for the original. “I thought it was absolutely brilliant.”
What do you say to a guy like Tim Urban who has had such a hard time on the show, and who picked “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls? Not much, actually, as Keys said Teflon T found a way to make it sound like it was his song already. Also backed by a string section, Urban wobbled through the first bit, strumming his acoustic guitar with his eyes closed, never quite finding the right notes after seemingly hitting his stride last week with Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
From a banana to soup, Ellen was back to her food metaphors, saying that Tuesday night she wasn’t hungry. “I’ve liked your soup, I have, but today I just didn’t like the soup,” she said. It was just OK karaoke for Randy, and Simon said the performance wasn’t quite believable and a letdown from last week.
Aaron Kelly was 5 years old when R. Kelly released “I Believe I Can Fly,” and Keys said it was a big task, but if A.Kells could practically break down by song’s end, he might have a shot. Kelly was a bit too somber, and though he hit most of the notes and had a major diva run at the end, the intensity and emotion seemed to be missing.
Jackson and DeGeneres praised his huge voice and said Kelly pulled it off, but Cowell wasn’t totally buying it. On the one hand, Simon said, he could judge it knowing Aaron and liking him, which made it seem quite good. “In the real world, if we’d have heard that on the radio, I would have turned it off within 10 seconds,” he said to a chorus of boos. “Because it wasn’t very good, but you kind of made it quite good.”
Pulling off Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston’s “Prince of Egypt” song “When You Believe” was not going to be easy for Siobhan Magnus, but when Keys heard the big falsetto note Siobhan had planned near the end, she thought that could be the clincher. Magnus appeared to pull it off, putting some diva power into the song and hitting that high, clear note Keys loved so much at the end.
“Technically, it may have been really well sung, but my problem is it’s not a musical, and it started to feel very dramatic,” DioGuardi said. Calling it the hardest song of the night, Jackson said it was just OK, but Ellen disagreed, dubbing it proof of why Magnus was still in the competition. Cowell felt the arrangement was too old-fashioned and messy, saying he was distracted by the cloth butterflies wrapped around her arm.
Michael Lynche began putting together his list of 200 songs he’d play on “Idol” if he made it, and the one he picked Tuesday night was Nickelback’s “Hero.” He played the “Spider-Man” hit as a symphonic acoustic rave-up, giving the muscular rock song a tad more soul.
Kara wasn’t feeling it and sensed Mike’s tone didn’t fit the song, rendering it unrecognizable, though Simon thought he sang it well, even if he came off as artificial and not as authentic as last week.
The primo final spot belonged to front-runner Crystal Bowersox, who chose Curtis Mayfield’s legendary “People Get Ready” as a way of expressing how grateful she feels for her opportunity to shine on the show, just days after it was revealed that she almost quit “Idol.” Starting off a cappella under a blue and pink spotlight, Bowersox brought a hush to the room as her crisp, clear vocals cut through the silence. As the band kicked in, she took it to church and hit some soaring, bluesy gospel notes and gave a clinic on how to imbue a performance with passion, breaking down in uncontrollable tears at song’s end.
“That was inspirational,” said Cowell, who appreciated the emotion after fearing that MamaSox had shut down a bit in recent weeks. “You sang it fantastically, and for me it was in a completely different class from everything we heard tonight.” Kara loved that Crystal took a risk and put the guitar down. “MamaSox, you know why they call you that?” she said. ” ‘Cause you just schooled all those contestants.” And Randy? He just gave her a standing ovation.
The next contestant will go home at the end of Wednesday’s two-hour “Idol Gives Back” special, unless producers revert back to 2007’s inaugural year of the charity event and put off the elimination for a week. Check back here to find out what happens.
What did you think of Tuesday night’s performances? Who killed it? Who blew it? Who do you think should go home? Write in your comments below!
Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page, where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
